Greening Head Start Centers
As designers and planners learn more about the effects the environment has on the learning and attention, they realize that the built environment is a concern. Buildings can turn their backs on their surroundings and depend on mechanical and electrical systems to create comfort, or they can be designed to work with the site and natural systems and become healthy and productive places. This approach, called sustainable design, provides huge benefits to children, staff, community, and the environment at large.
The grantee and Design Team will benefit from addressing the complex issues of sustainable design for Head Start centers. Perhaps in no other building type, other than private homes, are the benefits of green design more applicable and timely. The care and nurturing of the nation’s children who are preparing to enter school are of major importance.
There is an abundance of data from research on K-12 children. The parallels to pre-school children are compelling since the benefits of green design may be even more effective for pre-schoolers. Research has shown improved test scores, increased attentiveness and higher attendance because of daylighting factors and natural ventilation. This research has been repeated and corroborated in different parts of the country. The evidence shows that natural light provides better visual acuity for 3D objects, which are so important for pre-school children. Daylight also stimulates higher hormonal levels through the pituitary gland resulting in better attentiveness and calmer behavior.
Natural ventilation contributes to these benefits. Fresh air combined with daylight can transform a static indoor environment into an environment connected with natural rhythms. This in turn results in a more stimulating space. Natural ventilation also contributes to improved indoor air quality and is linked directly to health and attendance.
One of the biggest problems in schools has been poor indoor air quality that contributes to higher levels of asthma and "sick building" syndrome. Poor air quality and indoor pollutants have an even higher potential for adverse effects on pre-school children. Today, Americans spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors, and pollution concentrations are frequently 2 to 5 times greater than those outdoors.
The way buildings are heated and cooled and the designs used to modulate the environment have a marked effect on indoor air quality. Coupled with the type of materials used, especially the indoor finishes, design has an even more marked effect.
Following are some of the design solutions and systems that support the goals of green building:
- Effective and comprehensive daylighting
design may be the single most important design issue for spaces
for children. Different spaces, locations, and site conditions
require different approaches to daylighting and designers should
be aware of the options. Benefits to daylighting include
potentially reduced cooling requirements and reduced artificial
lighting requirements.
- Green roofs, cool roofs, sunshades all
contribute towards reduced energy requirements and can benefit
Head Start grantees by reducing their operating costs.
- Using green materials with low or no
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can help restore good indoor air
quality. Such materials can be found for most finishes, paints,
caulks, carpeting, flooring, wall coverings, and other surfaces.
- Flushing out buildings prior to occupancy
can improve air quality.
- Installing operable windows in schools and
child care centers increases air circulation. (Over the last 15
years these windows have almost disappeared.)
- Effective landscaping for control of water
run-off, shading, and cooling.
- Carefully designing parking and providing access to public transportation.
It is possible to aid the process of preparing children to learn by carefully designing facilities and surrounding areas. There is another reference to environmentally sensitive planning in Section 2.3 of Chapter 2. Grantees also should be aware of Historic Preservation restrictions where applicable when renovating or rehabilitating an existing facility. Head Start’s Facilities Environment Documentation Course is available on a CD-ROM and has information about special procedures for dealing with historic preservation.
The Head Start Bureau appreciates the contributions to this Appendix by Daniel F. Hellmuth, AIA, hellmuth + bicknese architects, St. Louis, Missouri
